Capitol officer to ABC's David Muir on Trump's role in Jan. 6: 'I do hold him accountable'
As the country marks one year since the the attack on the U.S. Capitol on attacks on the Capitol, and with investigations into the planning and execution of that attack ongoing, three officers who fought the rioters that day tell "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir it's time for accountability -- and that extends to former President Donald Trump.
Homegrown: Standoff to Rebellion
A look at the days, events and conversations leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, from the eyes of anti-government groups, extremism experts and several ABC News correspondents who were at the Capitol that day.
Watch more TONIGHT on “World News Tonight” at 6:30 p.m. ET
"I do hold him accountable. He's the only person who had influence over those people. And you could give him the benefit of the doubt that he was not involved. You could say that he didn't know for about an hour. What he doing the hours after the first hour? You can't tell me that he did not know. You can't tell me that he did not know what was happening, even because his adviser told him, because the military told him, because he was watching on TV," Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, told Muir during an interview last month. "The notion that he did not know or he acted swiftly -- no, I don't buy that."
Muir sat down with Sgt. Gonell, his fellow Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, and Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges -- all of whom were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 of last year. It was the first time the three officers sat down for an interview since they, and former Capitol Police officer Michael Fanone, detailed the horrors they endured on Jan. 6 during a congressional hearing six months after the attacks.
For Dunn, the former president's role in the actions of his supporters is clear.
"Those individuals who were there, they thought that they were in the right," he told Muir. "They would stop at nothing because they were empowered by somebody in the highest power -- position of power in the United States."
On Jan. 6, ABC News Live will provide all-day coverage of events marking one year since the attack on the U.S. Capitol and the continuing fallout for American democracy.
The House Jan. 6 select committee has subpoenaed several Trump administration officials and Trump associates, including the former president's chief of staff Mark Meadows, and sought the cooperation of Fox News host Sean Hannity. Just this week, the committee released text messages Hannity sent Meadows on the days leading up to Jan. 6 -- the date Congress was to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
On Jan. 5, the night before the violent riot, the committee says Hannity seemed to sound the alarm in a text saying, "I’m very worried about the next 48 hours."
ABC News' Rachel Scott, Ely Brown and Trish Turner contributed to this report.
